Point A To Point B
by P.A.R
Summary: Orion and Katlin's oldest adopted child decides it's time for his own mode of transportation.


A/N: As always,

Enjoy.

Story Summary: I thought this was a good Mother's Day story. It's just a cute little one-shot.

Time period? You can place this just about two years after the children have come to live with Orion and Katlin. Anything past that is pretty self-explanatory.

Disclaimer: This was done purely for fun. Or at least it had better have been, because heaven knows I didn't make any money off of it.

Harry Potter and all associated references to the Harry Potter series are the express property of JK Rowling and her publishers.

**FROM POINT A TO POINT B**

"Owwwwwwwww!"

Thomas did his best to keep pace with the woman who currently had such a firm grip on the lobe of his ear he swore she was cutting off the blood supply.

"You just wait until Orion gets home. We'll see what he has to say about this nonsense, young man." Katlin stated, waving a large, glossy magazine in front of the teenager's face as she dragged him along.

"It's not nonsense!" Thomas protested, earning himself another sharp pull on his ear.

Just then they both heard the unmistakable sounds of the small sport's car pulling into the garage. A slight slam was heard as the car's door closed, and finally the clicking of the lock as Orion entered the kitchen; briefcase, evening paper, and car keys in hand.

Stopping in the doorway, Orion looked up as he paused briefly to surveyed the situation, then continued over to the kitchen table with a sigh.

"Just how I like the evening to start." He commented dryly.

Depositing the briefcase on the floor and his keys on the table, Orion took a seat at the table and shook out the paper. "Ok, I'm ready. Hit me!" He stated.

Katlin immediately rustled the magazine at her husband. "Orion, just look at what this boy has been reading!"

Orion glanced up briefly from the paper to give a casual look over the magazine. But from the angle Katlin held it, he couldn't see the title.

"Playboy?" He ask hopefully, then turned an indulgent smile to his adopted son. "Awwww, got caught reading your first girly magazine. I'm so proud."

A sharp slap on the side of the head with the magazine drew his attention back to his wife.

"Ow!"

"Watch her, she's got good aim with it." Thomas warned.

"Little late for that warning, isn't it?" Orion replied, rubbing the side of his head.

"Orion!" Katlin stated. "It is not one of........of those magazines." She emphasized.

Orion slowly reached out and took the magazine Katlin was holding out to him by two fingers. "It's not Playgirl, is it?" He ask cautiously. "Because I'm really not ready for that, Katlin."

In answer, Katlin simply pointed an accusing finger at the magazine.

Orion shook it out and held it up so he could see the title.

"European Motorway?" He ask.

"It's a motorcycle magazine, Orion!" Katlin stated.

Orion was already abstractly flipping through the pages. "Uh-huh."

"Orion!"

Orion snapped his attention back to his wife, then turned quickly to Thomas. "Has it at least got pictures of girls on motorcycles?" He ask the teenager.

Thomas nodded quickly. "Lots of them."

Orion quickly turned back to the magazine and again began paging through it, flipping the pages a little less faster this time.

Katlin gave the boy's ear another yank.

"Ow!"

"Tell him why you were reading it." She instructed firmly.

"Katlin......!" The teenager wailed, trying to free his sore ear.

Katlin gave the ear another yank.

"Ow! There's a bike in the ads for sale." Thomas admitted in a rush to save his poor ear any further pain.

Orion had reached the center of the magazine and had turned it sideways as he perused the inset. "OK."

Thomas had expected the revelation to meet with the same reaction it had with his adoptive mother. But the less than negative response gave him a spark of hope that lit a small fire under his fading courage and spurred him on. "Can I have it?" He ask hopefully.

Another firm yank.

"Ow! Orion!"

Orion had gone back to flipping through the magazine's pages. "Katlin, I can't talk to the boy with you trying to pull his ear off."

Katlin released her hold, but followed it up with a warning stare and a finger pointed directly at him.

Rubbing his ear, Thomas fixed his attention on his surrogate father. "So?" He ask, none of his hopefulness dimming.

Orion had yet to turn his attention from the magazine. "Why this sudden interest in motorcycles?" He ask.

"Well," the teenager answered eagerly, "Uncle Sirius has one. And Cousin Harry has one."

"So does half of England." Orion stated, closing the magazine and laying it on the table as he leaned forward to face his adopted offspring. "My question is 'Why do you need one'?"

"Well, I'm graduating this year." Thomas answered, as thought that explained everything.

"Congratulations, and I'm glad to see apparently Divination class is going well." Orion answered flatly. "But that still doesn't answer the question."

"Well, I was thinking about getting a job........and....I'll need a way to get there."

Orion turned a less than helpful smile to his wife. "That sounds reasonable." He replied.

Katlin looked like she wanted to murder him.

"Reasonable!?" She stated in a slow, low, warning tone.

"Katlin, the boy wants to get a job."

"He has another year of school. He should be concentrating on his studies."

"I have to learn to ride it." Thomas defended.

Katlin turned her seething stare on him. "It's going to take you a year?"

"With Uncle Sirius teaching me? Probably. He takes motorcycle riding very seriously." Thomas added, hoping the extra plug would help his case.

"Just a minute." Orion put in quickly. "You think you're getting this motorcycle now?"

Thomas practically saw his beloved motorcycle driving off into the sunset all by itself. "Well........, yeah." He answered cautiously.

Orion stared back at the boy. "With what?"

"What do you mean?"

Orion gave the boy a questioning stare. "What do you intend to do? Steal it?"

Thomas took a deep breath. Here it came. The big pitfall in his plans. The part he dreaded. "Welll..........," he started slowly, "...no. But I have some money saved up." He emphasized quickly.

"Enough?" Orion pinned the question on him just as quickly.

Thomas took another deep breath. "No."

Orion settled back in the chair. "All right then. Again, 'How do you intend to pay for this motorcycle?'."

Thomas sighed deeply. "Well...., I sort of hoped that....maybe you and Katlin could....sort of......." his voice trailed off as he watched the smile on the face of the man in the chair grow wider and wider.

"Keep going." Orion coaxed him with a wave of his fingers. "I've lived all my life waiting to hear these words."

Thomas sighed again. This was not looking good.

Well, best to get it over with. "I hoped you and Katlin couldsortofmakeupthedifference." He stated quickly.

Orion leaned his head back, closed his eyes, and breathed in deeply with something close to an ecstatic smile on his face. "Ahhhh........., and it sounded just like I imagined it would." He sighed happily.

Thomas frowned at his adoptive father as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You're going to say 'no', aren't you?" He stated.

Orion pulled himself back up in the chair, adopting an amazingly serious look that he fixed on the teenager. "Actually, Thomas, I'm not."

Katlin responded to the pronouncement first. "Orion!"

"What?!" Thomas stated, his mouth dropping open. "What?! Really!?"

From the side door of the kitchen an enthusiastic bundle of energy came bouncing into the room. "Oh cool, Thomas!" Justin shouted. "You're getting a bike!"

Orion immediately turned to the younger boy. "Why are you so excited?" He ask.

"Me?" Justin ask. "I have a vested interest here."

"How so?"

"Well, you let Thomas get a bike when he was 16. That means....."

"It means nothing until he actually gets the motorcycle." Orion warned in a stern voice, turning his attention back to the older boy. "And a lot can happen between now and then."

Thomas was pretty sure he heard the engine of his new motorcycle starting up again for that long drive into the sunset. Alone. "Happen?" He ask.

"Yes."

"Like what?"

"Like you don't keep your grades up between now and then."

"What?!"

"And you fail any of your N.E.W.T.S"

"Orion!"

"And you fail to find a job." Orion added. "Any of those three conditions will guarantee that you will never park your leather-clad arse on the back of any motorcycle. Do we understand each other?"

Thomas considered the offer. "Yes, sir." He finally answered.

"But if....if you promise to keep your grades up, you pass your N.E.W.T.S., and you produce proof of looking for legitimate employment, I just might be able to see my way to making up the difference of what you would owe on the motorcycle. But first Sirius has to look the bike over, pronounce it fit to ride, and he will have to teach you to ride it properly."

"Cool." Thomas stated. "Maybe he can enchant it the way he did his."

"No way!" Orion stated firmly. "My father didn't allow Sirius to enchant his motorcycle until he was 18, and neither will he do yours until your just as old."

A deceptively calm voice broke into the conversation. "Do I have any say in this matter?"

Orion turned to his wife.

He knew the tone all too well. Katlin was not one bit happy with the deal being struck and was all too ready to deal it a blow of her own. Best to try and head things off at the pass, he figured. "Katlin, what's so wrong with the boy getting a motorcycle? He's of the age to drive it, he's reasonably sane..."

"Orion!" Thomas protested.

Orion turned a quick glance to the teenager. "Produce the papers to certify it and I'll change the classification." He stated before turning back to his wife, ".....and all he's looking for is transportation. You know, a way to get from point A to point B. It's really very simple."

"Simple?" Katlin replied, giving the three males before her an exasperated stare. "Simple?!" She repeated. "Then let me give you a little 'Point A to point B' equation, Mr. Black. Motorcycles are dangerous."

"Sirius can teach him to ride it safely."

"He's still in school."

"I already said he'd lose it if his grades suffered."

"He's just of the legal age."

"Legal is legal, Love."

"He's still a boy."

"And likely to stay that way if you have any say in the matter, I'd wager."

"He could get hurt!"

"Covered that already."

Katlin gave him another exasperated look. "Our insurance will skyrocket."

Orion paused, then turned to the eager teenager standing before him. "You pay half on the insurance cost."

Thomas quickly nodded.

"With what?!" Katlin interjected.

"Well," Thomas quickly put in, seeing the perfect addition to his argument, "if I'm going to get a motorcycle, and I have to have insurance to ride it, and I have to pay for half of that, then I have to get a job to pay for it, so I'll need a way to get to work." He reasoned out quickly, turning a pleased smile to his adoptive mother.

"Point A to Point B reasoning, Love." Orion added. "He's got you there."

Katlin gave the three another exasperated look before she turned quickly on her heel and marched out of the room.

Thomas quickly turned to his adoptive father. "Uh-oh." He stated.

Orion waved him down. "Leave it to me. She just worried, Thomas. That's all. I'll talk to her."

But Thomas had other ideas. "Orion, let me talk to her."

"What?"

"It's going to be my bike." He replied, waving towards the doorway Katlin had taken. "This is just another part of it. I'll explain all the pros and cons to Katlin, and see what she says. OK?"

"And if she says 'no'?" Orion ask.

Thomas took a deep, steadying breath. "If it's going to upset her that much....then it's 'no'."

Orion consider the teenager's words, then nodded. "All right. Off you go then."

Thomas hurried up the stairs, taking them two at a time to Orion and Katlin's room. Outside, he knocked tentatively on the closed door.

"Go away, Orion!" Came the sharp answer.

Thomas carefully turned the handle and poked a hand in. "It's not Orion."

Katlin considered the hand eagerly waving at her. "All right." She said finally in a much lower voice. "Come in."

Thomas stuck his head around the corner. "Are you sure?"

Katlin nodded and the teenager came in, closing the door behind him.

Just from her posture Thomas could see Orion was right. Sitting on the edge of the bed, shoulders down and her head lowered as she stared at her hands folded neatly in her lap, Katlin wasn't so much directly opposed to the motorcycle as she was worried about him driving it.

"Orion wanted to come up and talk to you." Thomas told her, trying to appear casual as he slowly walked across the room. "But I thought maybe I was the one who should come up."

Katlin lifted her head as she fixed a completely neutral stare on her adopted son. "Why you?"

Thomas shrugged. "Orion isn't the one whose going to be driving the bike, I am."

"That has yet to be decided." She replied stiffly.

Thomas sighed as he cautiously took the seat next to her on the bed. "Katlin, look, I know you're worried about me riding a motorcycle. But....it's not like I'm going to be taking it on holidays cross country."

"You might." Katlin replied quietly.

Thomas quickly shook his head. "No. I'll only use it to get to work and home. I swear. And it isn't like this is a big city here or anything. The worst thing I could run into is Orion in his sports car, or Mr. Lauries old pick-up truck, which hardly goes over 30. And Uncle Sirius will be teaching me how to ride safely, and he can even enchant it to make sure it can't go over 30 itself if it'll make you feel better. And Orion can ward it, so nothing can come close to me when I'm on it. I'll be safer on it than if I was walking, OK?"

Katlin turned to her oldest child, barely managing a small smile. "You just don't understand, Thomas." She said softly. "I know you want the bike. I know it'll mean a lot to you. And I know you'll be careful, and we can put so many protection spells on it, you'll be safer on that bike than you would be safe in your bed."

Thomas gave her a puzzled stare. "Then what's the problem?"

Katlin reached over and brushed a bit of hair back from his forehead. "You're growing up." She said quietly. "And for all I try, I can't stop that. But you're getting older, and you're wanting to try new things, and explore the world on your own now." Katlin gave him a small, sad smile. "And I'm just not ready for that yet.

I didn't get all of you, Thomas." She went on to explain past his puzzled look. "I've barely gotten three years. And though I'm grateful beyond words for that, I can't help but still feel cheated. I still envy your mother the 14 years she did get with you. I'd give anything if I could keep each of you just where you are. Safe, secure, and always here. But I can't."

Thomas gave her a small smile in return. "I'm not leaving home, Katlin." He replied.

Katlin gave a little laugh. "I know. And I know I'm not making good sense. It's just how I feel, Love."

Thomas shook his head. "I think you're making perfect sense." He replied. "You just sound like a mother, that's all. My Mum used to say the same things. How much she worried about us going off on our own someday. How much she would miss having us around all the time. What the world would be like for us then? Were we safe? Were we OK?" He gave her slightly wider smile. "It's nice to know you care about us as much as she did."

Katlin gave him a tight hug. "I certainly try, Love. I certainly try."

"And you're doing a great job of it." Thomas assured her from within the two arms that held tightly onto him. He waited for a minute, then turned his head slightly to look up at her. "So," he ask tentatively, "do I get the bike?"

Katlin gave him an exaggerated, exasperated sigh. "Orion and I will talk about it." She replied.

Thomas gave her a happy hug. "Thanks, Katlin."

A week later Thomas sat in the driveway on the back of his beloved motorcycle.

"Do you think it was wise to get it for him so soon?" Katlin ask as she stood next to Orion, watching Thomas strap on the helmet.

"Sirius said the bike was in excellent condition, a good, safe machine, and the man was eager to sell." He replied. "Someone else may have snatched it up while we sat on our hands. Thomas would have been devastated to lose it to someone else."

The engine roared to life.

"Just around the drive!" Orion called out to him as the teenager gave him a thumbs up and took off, albeit at a slow, safe speed as he accustomed himself to the new wheels beneath him.

Orion felt Katlin tense next to him. He draped an arm over her shoulders and gave her a quick hug.

"It's just a motorcycle, Love." He told her. "It'll take him to work, and it'll bring him home."

Katlin sighed as she watched bike and rider roll off down the paved drive of the house.

"Yes, it is." She said softly. "Just a way of getting from Point A to Point B."

No reviews. If there were any, they would have been as of 5/9/2010.

And remember;

To all mother's out there, I hope you have a fantastic mother's day surrounded by loving friends and family.

And to my own wonderful, spectacular, cherished, fabulous, caring, incredible, loving mother, Happy Mother's Day, Mom. You know we all love you.


End file.
